With 2 R, this name includes
all the small guns of pocket, while the name Deringer is in fact the signature
of famous Henry Deringer.

This revolver was
manufactured at only 4.000 specimens between 1874 and 1879. There are also two
models in .22, also strong close relations - if not copied - S&W St 2nd and 1st
3rd Issue. The revolvers in .22 have only six shots.

The commercial value is a
little higher than that of Märlin - this specimen is in a state which comes very
close to perfection - but will be accepted only by truths experts.

The large one of those which
are believed in the current will expect to find these revolvers less expensive
than the S&W, precisely because they are not S&W.

Photos Littlegun

Philadelphia Deringer

Circa 1864: This derringer
was made by Henry Deringer of Philadelphia. By the time this pistol was made,
the makers name misspelled with a small "d" and two "r"s was already becoming
generic noun for small concealable pocket pistols, as it remains today.

While Henry was most well
known for making small single shot percussion pistols like this one, he also
made full size pistols and duellers.

The pistol used by John
Wilkes Booth to shoot President Lincoln was a Henry Deringer pistol very much
like this one.

There were several retailers
who had special contracts with Henry Deringer and he would mark those pistols
with the retailer's name. In San Francisco the Curry brothers sold authentic
Philadelphia Deringers. Henry's first contract in San Francisco was with Charles
Curry and then after Charles died in 1863, Charles brother Nathaniel Curry took
over. The "N Curry mark on this pistol confirms that it was made between 1863
and February 1868 when Henry Deringer himself died.

It has been estimated that
about 15,000 pistols were made by Deringer between 1830 and his death in 1868,
roughly 400 pistols per year.

There were many imitators of
Henry Deringer making pistols that were nearly identical to the originals. Some
of the most boldfaced copies were made by Slotter and Company of Philadelphia, a
firm founded by former employees of Henry Deringer. Slotter went so far as to
hire John Deringer, a tailor by trade, in order to try to give some legitimacy
to their use of the trademark Deringer name.